Helena Costa is set to be the first woman to a coach a men’s professional soccer team in France, making history as the first female manager in one of the top two divisions of Europe’s five major professional leagues.
Clermont, the second division club currently sitting 14th in France’s League 2 of 20, announced the news of the appointment on their website last week, saying that the nomination would help the team enter a new era.
Thirty-six year old Costa has had a lengthy career training youth and women’s national teams since coming up from her native Portugal, where she coached a men’s team at a regional level. She is the former coach for the women’s national team of Qatar and Iran and scouted for Scottish club Celtic.
Though women have owned soccer teams and have had leadership roles in several clubs throughout Europe, Costa is the most high-profile appointment to date and the first appointment of a female coach.
“It’s a brave move by Clermont,” . Costa told French radio RTL. She thanked the club’s president, Claude Michy, for giving her “a great opportunity” and told the New York Times that it was a “historical day” and she hoped her position would open up more opportunities for women in the world of sport.
“I think this is about more than Helena Costa as a football coach. I think it¹s very good for all the women in sports, especially in football of course. It could have been someone else. And I hope this is only the first step.”
Meanwhile, Michy told the New York Times he was surprised at the level of interest in her appointment: It’s surprising because in the world there are lots of women in important positions, heads of government or team managers in Formula One or chief surgeons,” he said.
“But because it¹s football — something global and still rather conservative — and a provincial French team hires a female coach, it creates a media earthquake.”
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the French minister of women’s rights and of youth and sport, also applauded the move, posting to Twitter, “Bravo to Clermont Foot for understanding that giving women their place is the future of professional football.”
Costa is set to take over as coach at the end of the month when the team’s current season ends. The financial terms and the length of her role have not been revealed.
She hopes the first she achieved is just the beginning, telling the Times. “I opened a door today and more women will walk through on my back. That’s what I hope.”
So will we soon see a woman walk through a similar door to coach a team in one of Australia’s national football leagues?